Sandra Gilbert

As I watched your interview with Dwayne Wade this morning I was very impressed by his reaction and his daughter's faith in him that she could be open. I have been a teacher since 1972. I have taught in the US and all around the world from Tokyo to Chiang Mai Thailand. Since returning to the USA in 2010 I have been substituting for Wake County Schools System in Raleigh, NC. In December 2019, at the very end of school, a middle school student came up to my desk and said she felt like a boy in a girls body. I listened and the advice I gave her was to speak to her parents. The student then said she felt like a "trans". Again, I asked her to speak to her father. The bell rang and she left the room.. As I was leaving the school a Vice Principal came up to me and asked me to follow her which I did. She took me in a room and asked me to write out what was said. I did... thinking we were going to direct the student where she could speak to someone and/or her father. However, it did not play out like that. She had only heard the word "trans" and she asked me to write down what the student had said. I complied with her, again thinking she would take over from there.. She placed me on a "Do Not Call list" HR and I have spoken however nothing else has been told to me if this student was counseled. I have counseled many students. This situation was not for me to counsel. I advised the student to seek out her parents. Obviously, she didn't want to talk with her parents because our conversation lasted about 60 seconds. I am so impressed with Dwayne that he has the open relationship with his child. I wish the schools admin and or parents would make sure they keep open lines with their children letting them free to discuss openly within safe walls .